1916 – 1945 Silver Mercury Dime: 90% Silver

1949 Mercury Dime front view
The 1916-D is the key to the series and is eagerly sought after in all grades. While, in 1942 the last year in which proofs of this type were made, due in large part to the advent of World War II.
Look for the rare 1942/1 over-date on circulation strikes. And, 1945 un-circulated examples with Full Split Bands are very rare. Yet, the 1945-S comes with a normally sized mint-mark and a very tiny “Micro S”.

The 1916 – 1945 Mercury Dime contains 90% silver which is 0.0723 troy ounces of silver, thus classified as junk silver. You can use the Silver Melt Value calculator to see the value of silver in this coin.
Listed below are the mintage numbers for each year. The year column lists the year and mint mark on the coin where, D is for Denver, S is for San Francisco, and P is for Philadelphia. Also, a coin without a mint mark means the coin was minted in Philadelphia.

The Mintage column is the number of coins struck and released by the U.S. Mint.
The Numismatic Value Range column represents what people typically pay for that type of coin (usually a very wide price range depending on the condition and demand of the coin).

Date
Mintage
Numismatic Value

1916
22,180,080

1916-D
264,000

1916-S
10,450,000

1917
55,230,000

1917-D
9,402,000

1917-S
27,330,000

1918
26,680,000

1918-D
22,674,800

1918-S
19,300,000

1919
35,740,000

1919-D
9,939,000

1919-S
8,850,000

1920
59,030,000

1920-D
19,171,000

1920-S
13,820,000

1921
1,230,000
$35.00 – $1,575.00

1921-D
1,080,000
$55.00 – $1,750.00

1923
50,130,000

1923-S
6,440,000

1924
24,010,000

1924-D
6,810,000

1924-S
7,120,000

1925
25,610,000

1925-D
5,117,000

1925-S
5,850,000

1926
32,160,000

1926-D
6,828,000

1926-S
1,520,000

1927
28,080,000

1927-D
4,812,000

1927-S
4,770,000

1928
19,480,000

1928-D
4,161,000

1928-S
7,400,000

1929
25,970,000

1929-D
5,034,000

1929-S
4,730,000

1930
6,770,000

1930-S
1,843,000

1931
3,150,000

1931-D
1,260,000

1931-S
1,800,000

1934
24,080,000

1934-D
6,772,000

1935
58,830,000

1935-D
10,477,000

1935-S
15,840,000

1936
87,500,000

1936-D
16,132,000

1936-S
9,210,000

1937
56,860,000

1937-D
14,146,000

1937-S
9,740,000

1938
22,190,000

1938-D
5,537,000

1938-S
8,090,000

1939
67,740,000

1939-D
24,394,000

1939-S
10,540,000

1940
65,350,000

1940-D
21,198,000

1940-S
21,560,000

1941
175,090,000

1941-D
45,634,000

1941-S
43,090,000

1942
205,410,000

1942-D
60,740,000

1942-S
49,300,000

1943
191,710,000

1943-D
71,949,000

1943-S
60,400,000

1944
231,410,000

1944-D
62,224,000

1944-S
49,490,000

1945
159,130,000

1945-D
40,245,000

1945-S
41,290,000